Device for adjusting brakes automatically



Sept. 7, 1954 R. R. cRooKsToN DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING BRAKES AUTOMATICALLY3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 23, 1951 FIG. 3.

INVENTOR. Robert R. Crookston,

Sept. 7, 1954 R. R. cRooKs-roN A2,688,386

DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING BRAKES AUTOMATICALLY Filed Jan. 23, 1951 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Robertl R. Crooks fon,

Sept- 7, 1954 R. R. cRooKsToN 2,688,386

DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING BRAKES AUTOMATICALLY Filed Jan. 23, 1951 3Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG 6 INVENTUR. Robert R. Cro oksfon Patented Sept. 7,1954 DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING BRAKES AUTOMATICALLY Robert R. Crookston,Houston, Tex., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Standard Oil Development Company, Elizabeth, N.JY., a corporation of Delaware Application January 23, 1951, Serial No.207,360

3 Claims.

The present invention is directed to apparatus for adjusting therelationship of one element with respect to another element. Moreparticularly, the invention is directed to a take-up assembly foradjusting brakes, such as those applied on rotary drilling drawworks.The invention also has to do with a combination for adjusting brakeassemblies automatically.

The apparatus for adjusting brakes automatically comprises, incombination, an air brake cylinder provided with means for releasing airpressure therefrom into a conduit on overtravel of a piston arm in saidcylinder. A pump having a starting means connected to said conduit andadapted to be actuated by flow of air from the cylinder is iiuidlyconnected to a u'id reservoir and is provided with a discharge conduit.A take-up assembly comprising a housing is connected to the injectionmeans therein to deliver fluid thereto from the pump. The firstattaching means connects said longitudinal member to the piston and asecond attaching means connects the take-up assembly to the brakes.

'Ihe invention will be further described by reference to the drawing inwhich Figure 1 is an embodiment of the combination apparatus showing itsrelationship to a brake assembly;

Figure 2 is a detailed View of an air brake. assembly for releasing airpressure on overtravel of a piston arm;

Figure 3 is a simplified cutaway view of a takeup assembly of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional View in detail of a takeup assembly;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the take-upassembly;

Figure 6 is a detail of the injection means of Figs. 1 to 5; Fig. 6a isa sectional detailed view of Fig. 6; and

Figure '7 is a sectional view "of another embodiment of the take-upassembly in accordance with the present invention.

In the several iigures of the drawing identical parts will be designatedby identical numerals.

The present invention is preferably employed with air operated brakes ondrawworks such as described in my prior Patents Nos. 2,589,059 and2,489,449.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, numeralII designates a brake band assembly such as described in aforementionedpatents to Crookston, supra. Mounted on the brake band assemblyandattached thereto by attaching means I2 is an air brake cylinder I3which is shown more clearly in Fig. 2. Air brake assembly I3 is providedwith a piston I5 vto which is attached a piston rod I6. Conduit I4 (Cl.18S-196) is attached to inlet I'I which denes a passageway IB allowingair pressure to be exerted against the piston I 5 to move it to theleft. Piston I5 and piston arm or rod IS are provided with a slidablearm I9 arranged therein which is designed to strike against the cylinderhead 20a opposite to cylinder head 20 of cylinder I3 on overstroking orovertravel of the piston arm. This may be due to slippage or wear of thebrake band assembly II on practically continual application thereof. Onactuation of the rod I9, it is caused to compress the compression means2I which allows air to by-pass through the channel 22 defined by the armI6 and then into the passageway within the arm I6 by virtue of theunseating of the element 23 carried by rod I 9. The passage of airthrough the piston arm I6 allows air to be directed into conduit 2li andthence to pump starter 25. The piston arm I6 is suitably connected by aconnection means 25a to a takeup assembly which will be described inmore detail hereinafter. The air brake cylinder I3 and piston arm I6embody a warning whistle or device 26 which may a siren or any othertype of warning signal. This latter assembly has been described andclaimed in patent application Serial No. 159,170, filed May 1, 1950,`for Robert R. Crookston, now U. S. Patent No. 2,632,420.

In the device of the present invention, it may be desirable to omit thewarning device 26 and simply to have the conduit 24 connected to thepiston arm I6 as shown. In any event, the conduit 24 allows air pressurethus transmitted against pump starter 25 which may be an electricalswitch to energize a suitable pump 2i or the pump starter 25 may startan air compressor which could be used in lieu of the pump 2l. Connectedto the pump 2 or compressor, as the case may be, is a fluid reservoir 28in which may be provided a body of a mobile fluid, such as grease usedin lubricating bearings and the like, or a mineral oil or otherhydraulic fluid, such as silicone iluid. Pump 21 delivers the grease orother fluid through line 29 into brake take-up assembly 30 which isgenerally shown in Fig. 1 and whichwill be described in more detail inFigs. 3, 4, 5 and 7.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 3, it will be seen that take-up assembly 30comprises a housing 3| dening a chamber 32. Housing 3i is provided withattaching means 33 and 34 which allows the assembly 30 to be suitablyattached to connecting means 25a including linkage 35i and to connectingmeans 36 including linkage 3l and connecting arm 31a which serve toconnect the assembly to the brake band assembly II. The brake bandassembly I I has a connecting arm Il] attached to a piston rod 9 which,in turn, is

3 attached to a piston, not shown, arranged in piston cylinder` 8.Piston cylinder 8 is attached to the supporting member 1 of the brakeassembly II. The piston cylinder 8 is provided with means, not shown,for operating the brake assembly II.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be seen that chamber 32 has arrangedtherein a longitudinal member 38 which deiines a piston 39 provided witha ring sealing member 40 which suitably may be an O-ring. Cylinder 32 isprovided with a stop means 4| which is adapted to contact the piston 39on longitudinal member 38. The houslng 30 is provided with an injectionmeans 42 which fluidly communicates with a port 43 dened by housing 3|.Injection means 42 is connected to conduit 29 and allows delivery offluid from pump 21 into the chamber 32. It is to be noted that cylinderhead 20a is threadably attached to the cylinder I3 to allow ready accessto the interior of cylinder I3. Also, the cylinder 3| has a removable'threaded end 3|a to allow access to the movable parts in cylinder 3|.

Referring now to Fig. 4, a housing denes a chamber 5| provided withports 52. Arranged in a passageway 53 defined by housing 50 is' alongitudinal member 54 which denes with an end thereof a shoulder 55.Embracing and surrounding the shoulder 55 is an annular piston member 56provided with annular sealing means 51. The piston member 56 abutsagainst a seat 58 which is also provided with an annular sealing member59. The seat 58 may be made integral with the housing 50 although, inthe present embodiment, it is shown threadably connected thereto bythreads 60. The ports 52 communicate by means of passageways 6| with theface of the piston 56 which abuts against the seat 58.

The housing 50 is provided with a connecting or attaching means 62 whilethe longitudinal member 54 is similarly provided with an attaching means63. These attaching means may be attached to a manually operated braketo cause adjustment thereof. The seat assembly 58 denes an annularrecess 64 in which is arranged a suitable wiper material 65. The seatassembly 58 is also provided with an annular recess 66 in which isarranged an annular sealing ring As stated before, the assembly 58defining municate by passageway 69 with chamber 5|.

These inlets are suitably closed by caps 'I8 but may be used by removingthe caps to inject air into chamber 5| and to cause release or rejectionof fluid from between the faces of seat 58 and piston 56 as will bedescribed further. Threadably connected to one port 52 is injectionmeans 1I which is shown in more detail in Figs. 6 and 6A. At least oneof these injection means is connected to conduit 29 as shown in Figs. 1and 3. Attached to the other port 52 is bleeder valve 1|'.

Referring now to Fig. 5, which shows a modification of the apparatus ofFig. 3, a housing 80 deiines a chamber 82 and a port 83 into which isthreadably connected an injection means 1| similar to that employed inthe embodiment of Fig. 4. The housing 80 denes a passageway 84 in whichis arranged a longitudinal member 85 which projects into chamber 82 anddenes a shoulder 86. Embracing shoulder 86 is a me- 4 tallic annularmember 81 which may be composed of Babbitt metal and the like which isformed to receive a packing means such as V-packing 88; abutting againstpacking 88 is a plurality of y springs 89. A plurality of set screws 90are provided to maintain the springs 89 in position against the packing88. A second annular member 9| engages the springs and packing assemblyand deiines therewith and the rst annular member a piston element whichabuts against an annular packing member 92 which, in turn, rests againsta shoulder 93 dened by the housing 80.

A second packing assembly 94 provided with springs 95 seals thelongitudinal member 85 into the housing 80. The longtiudina1 member 85like the longitudinal member 54 in Fig. 4 is provided with an attachingmeans 63 while the l housing 80 is provided similarly with an attachingmeans 62. The attaching means 62 defines an inlet 68 which communicatesby line 69 with the chamber 82. The inlet 68 may suitably be closed by aclosure means 10.

In Figs. 6 and 6a a detail is given of the injection means 1| which isthreadably connected to port 43, 52, or 83 asthe case may be, Injectionmeans 1| includes a button head grease fitting |00 which has within itsbody a one-way check valve and deiines a restricting annulus to preventreverse flow. This tting may be used for both manua1 and automatic llingof the take-up assembly with fluid. Cap |0| is an additional safety sealwhich is installed after manual injection of iiuid. Elements |02, |03,and |04 comprise a bleeder assembly whichmay include a conventionalneedle valve for releasing grease or other fluid into hose |05 byrotating member |03 to open valve |02 when the take-up assembly isloosened or let out such as when brakes are let out.

When a take-up assembly is employed as in Figs. l-3, and 5 the conduit29 connects into tting |00 via a threaded connection not shown infitting |00. It is to be understood that fitting |00 may be replaced byany conventional grease fitting such as a Zerk or Alemite fittingprovided a positive shut-01T element such as a needle valve in serieswith it is employed between the tting and the take-up assembly.

Referring now to Fig. 7, a still further embodiment of my invention isshown in which a housing 200 defines a chamber 20| provided with a port202/ which is threaded with threads 203 to receive an injection meanssuch as 1| shown in the preceding figures. Arranged in chamber 28| is alongitudinal member 204 which is suitably connected by attaching means205 to an element whoseos'ition may be adjusted with respect to anotherelement. Longitudinal member 204 defines a piston 206 which is providedwith an annular sealing member 201. Housing 200 denes a second port 208which is provided with a closure 209. The port 202 is provided with acheck valve mechanism comprising a spherical member 2 I0 and a spring 2|I. Port 202 is adapted to receive, as stated before, an injection meansand to inject under pressure a suitable uid. Pressure exerted on thespherical member 2|0 and tension means 2|| allows fluid to be injectedinto chamber 20| by orifice 2| 2. Port 208 is a bleeding passage foremptying the chamber 20 I.

In operating the device of the present invention, it will be assumedthat an assembly such as that shown in Fig. 1 will be employed and thatoverstroking of piston arm I6 has resulted due to the wear on brake bandassembly H causing the longitudinal member 38 to become unduly loosened.When this happens, the over-travel device which is an element of thiscombination causes air to be released to the starter 25 which actuatespump 27 causing fluid to be pumped into taire-up assembly 3U. As thishappens, the fluid bears against the piston 39 causing the arm 38 to bemoved into the cylinder and thus causing tightening of the brake bandassembly Il.

The embodiments of Figs. 4 and 5 work in a similar manner. Assuming thatinjection means H are connected to the conduit 29, grease or othermobile uid would be introduced with reference to Fig. 4 through the port52 into passageway 8l to the space between piston 56 and shoulder 58vwhich will cause longitudinal arm 54 to move to the right causingtightening up on the connecting means 53. The apparatus of Fig. 5 worksin a similar manner to that of Fig. 4, grease or other fluid beingintroduced by injection means 7| and to port 83 causing the grease orthe mobile fluid to be exerted against the piston assembly dened by theelements 9|, 89 and 81 as well as shoulder 85. This causes the rod 85 tomove to the right tightening up on the connecting means 83.

The apparatus of Fig. 7 operates in a slightly diierent manner, thegrease or fluid being introduced through port 282 and orifice 2H intochamber 28! which causes the arm 204 to move to the left which may causetightening up or loosening of the assembly, as the case may be.

When it is desired to loosen the connections, this may be accomplishedby bleeding out the required amount of fluid, such as grease, byreleasing to the atmosphere. In the embodiment of Fig. 4, the greaseconnections 'H may be removed from one of the ports 52 for discharge ofiiuid therefrom. i In Fig. 5, the injection means 'Il may bedisconnected from port 83, allowing release of fluid. Caps 70 areremoved from inlets 63 and air is admitted into passageways 69 to causeextrusion of the grease by force exerted against the pistons 86, 31 and55, 56. In Fig. 7 a drain plug 289 is removed from port 208 Which allowsthe grease or fluid to be discharged.

The nature and objects of the present invention having been fullydescribed and illustrated, what I wish to claim as new and useful and tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for adjusting brakes automatically which comprises, incombination, an air brake cylinder having a piston arranged therein,pressure releasing means including a piston arm connected to saidpiston, means for releasing air pressure from said cylinder onovertravel of said piston in said cylinder, a conduit connected to saidpressure releasing means, a pump having a starting means connected tosaid conduit adapted to be actuated by ow of air from said cylinder, aiiuid reservoir luidly connected to said pump, a discharge conduit fromsaid pump, a take-up assembly comprising a housing defining a chamberprovided with a seating member, and at least a port in fluidcommunication therewith, a longitudinal member dening a shoulder with afirst end thereof slidably arranged in and projecting into said chamber,said shoulder being adapted to seat on said seating member, injectionmeans mounted on said housing fluidly communicating with said port fordirecting a uid medium against said shoulder to cause unidirectionalmovement of said member, said dis- 6 charge conduit being connected tosaid injection means to deliver fluid thereto from said pump, rstattaching means adapted for connecting said longitudinal member to saidbrakes'and second attaching means connecting said take-up assembly tosaid piston arm.

2. Apparatus for adjusting brakes automatically which comprises, incombination, an air brake cylinder having a piston arranged therein,pressure releasing means including a rst piston arm connected to saidpiston, means for releasing air pressure from said cylinder onovertravel of said first piston in said cylinder, a conduit connected tosaid pressure releasing means, a pump having a starting means connectedto said conduit adapted to be actuated by flow of air from saidcylinder, a fluid reservoir fluidly connected to said pump, a dischargeconduit from said pump and a take-up assembly comprising a pistoncylinder having a second piston arm arranged slidably therein providedwith a first attaching means on a free end of said second arm and asecond attaching means on said piston cylinder, said piston cylinderbeing provided with means for injecting fluid thereinto, said dischargeconduit being connected to said injection means to deliver fluid intosaid piston cylinder from said pump and said first attaching means beingadapted for connection to said brakes and said second attaching meansbeing connected to said rst piston arm.

3. Apparatus for adjusting brakes automatically which comprises, incombination, an air brake cylinder having a first piston arrangedtherein, pressure releasing means including a piston arm connected tosaid rst piston for releasing air pressure from said cylinder onovertravel of said rst piston in said cylinder, a conduit connected tosaid pressure releasing means, pumping means having a starting meansconnected to said conduit adapted to be actuated by i'low of air fromsaid cylinder, a fluid reservoir fluidly connected to said pumpingmeans, a discharge conduit from said pumping means, a hydraulic take-upassembly including a piston cylinder provided With a second pistonhaving a longitudinal arm projecting from said piston cylinder and meanson said piston cylinder for injecting a iiuid medium into said pistoncylinder against said second piston to cause uni-directional movement ofsaid longitudinal arm, said discharge conduit being connected to saidinjection means to deliver fluid thereto from said pumping means, rstattaching means adapted for connecting said longitudinal arm to saidbrakes and second attaching means connecting said take-up assembly tosaid piston arm.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 697,140 Goldschmidt s Apr. 8, 1902 1,673,528 Pigeolet June 12,1928 2,048,472 Sanford July 21, 1936 2,110,098 Strecker Mar. l, 19382,168,654 Olson et al. Aug. 8, 1939 2,168,818 Condon Aug. 8, 19392,251,379 van der Hof Aug. 5, 1941 2,489,449 Crookston Nov. 29, 19492,515,274 Stevenson July 18, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date648,027 Germany July 20, 1937

